Life After Death
by Josie4am
Summary: But then again, what do you say to someone that just lost their father when you've also just lost your father? "I feel numb." She said bluntly. "Join the club." At his words, relief washed over her. Good, Ino thought, we're on the same page.
1. Barbeque Chips

Shikamaru had been the first to arrive for the burial. Or so he probably thought.

From her vantage point Ino watched as Shikamaru paced back and forth between the two large holes in the ground. Her childhood friend was dressed in a sleek civilian suit that she was surprised he owned. It was clearly well tailored. _His mother had probably managed to drag him to a nice store and had it made._

Ino flew lower and got a better look at his face. He looked tired. He sat down next to one of the large holes on the grass crossed legged and Ino cringed. Had she been down there she would have chewed his head off for sitting on the grass in his nice clothes. Or maybe not. Maybe she would have joined in and sat next to the other large hole. Maybe she would even lie down on the grass like Shikamaru proceeded to do.

Just as she expected, Shikamaru folded his arms behind his head and assumed his sleepy yet thoughtful cloud gazing position. He would be fine she told herself. Oh how she desperately wanted to talk to him, not knowing if it was out of concern for her own sanity or his.

Ino hadn't been home in days. Upon the agreement to bury her father in one of the forests on the Nara's land, she had been camped here. Had it been anywhere else or anyone else it would have been trespassing. Her name might as well have been Nara-Akimichi-Yamanaka. Ino had gone flower picking in these forests ever since she was a child and she, Chouji, and Shikamaru spent many a childhood summer playing hide and seek and many an adolescent training camp in these woods.

This was her childhood playground and it would be her father's final resting place.

While she no longer lived at home, before she left she told her mother she needed be alone and gone for a few days but would be present for the burial. Ino got herself dressed appropriately, took some rations and water she had lying around her apartment, the world's smallest tent and headed for the Nara property.

She was having a lovely time feeling numb on that first day. But there she heard a bird.

She opened her eyes as it had disrupted her meditation when she saw the bird peached on a branch chirping peacefully. Before she even realized she made the decision to, she had performed her mind transfer-jutsu and had been enjoying the freedom of flying since. She did not abuse her ability, she flew for a bit, tried her hand at hunting, gathering, and even pollinating out of curiosity. She made sure the bird's body was not exhausted and well rested and properly hydrated before returning to the branch she first saw it and returned to her body. The experience was uncharted territory for her and boy was it exhilarating.

She had been in and out of so many birds, insects, and woodland creatures over the past few days, returning only to restore her chakra, relieve herself, and walk in her own body so it didn't get too stiff. Ino had never been more than one day without looking at a mirror or spent so many days on end not in her own body. It was exhausting but it the experience was so liberating. There was no immediate threat to the village and she was not out on a mission.

Ino began flying lower and made a mental note that she should return to civilization. She quite enjoyed the past few days though and was happy that this at least marked her turn to less damaging means of coping with loss. Partying, shopping sprees, spa treatments, binge drinking, she could not admit to herself until now that they were exhausting and were very hit or miss experiences.

The second she returned to her body she felt trapped. She missed the freedom of the sky, the lightness of a body in flight, the warmth of feathers, and the simple happiness it came with. She felt heavy and the numbness was back.

She looked around for a mirror, which of course she packed. Ino instinctively started pulling her hair up in a ponytail but quickly decided against it. This was a hard day enough already she didn't need any more pain, even if it was next to minuscule like the tightness of her scalp in an up do. She would let her hair down for today.

She tested her breath and man was it foul. She swished some of her water and took a breath mint she found in her bag. This was the best she could do for now. She took down her tent and packed all of it up. She decided to leave her things by the side of the tree and walked over to where she knew Shikamaru lay.

Shikamaru turned his head to look in her direction as she approached him and turned back to look up at the sky. It wasn't fair. It was a beautiful day.

Ino wanted to say something about his lack of greeting. But what did she want him to say, _Sorry about your dad? Sorry for your loss? My condolences?_ She didn't want any of that. Not from him. So she just continued to head over to him wordlessly fuming, unsure what she was angry about.

She kicked his foot gently with hers. Though earlier Ino desperately needed to talk to Shikamaru, now that she was here, the grieving girl was at a loss for words.

"You look good in a suit." Ino knew that he also did not want or need apologies and condolences from her. And honestly, call it selfish or whatever, but she was not in the mood to care for anyone except herself at the moment.

"…Troublesome… " Shikamaru sighed as if to make a point; about his mom or herself Ino was unsure, "you know my mom."

"Aw so you held your moms hand while you got your first proper suit made?"

"God Ino, I got up _early_ today. Can't we wait like another hour before we do whatever it is you're doing?"

The blonde pursed her lips. She did feel like she was being a little too extra, but the kunoichi was not about to concede. This put her in an odd situation because she knew Shikamaru would take her silence as a sign of defeat.

It was frustrating, _troublesome,_ as her male friend was inclined to say.

This was not going the way she wanted it to go. She did not know how to act or what to say. Uncharted territory between the two of them was always an odd feeling considering she was probably his longest and closest running friend, next to Chouji of course. Nothing she knew about him and none of their past history was making this an easier situation.

But then again, what do you say to someone that just lost their father when you've also just lost your father?

"I feel numb." She said bluntly.

"Join the club." At his words, relief washed over her. _Good,_ Ino thought, _we're on the same page._

Ino was not sure where to go from here, but then in an odd turn of events, Shikamaru took the lead.

"Are you just going to stand there? It's kind of weird," he muttered.

Ino huffed. Reluctantly, she sat down next to him.

"Wow Shikamaru, I'm surprised you've said more words than I have." Ino retorted, attempting to get the last word in. Ino absentmindedly began picking at the grass around her.

"Yea that'll happen when pigs fly."

Ino was so taken aback that she accidentally pulled out a clump of grass; dirt, roots and all. For the smallest amount of time possible she thought maybe it was a coincidence but the look on his face indicated otherwise.

"What?" She was a little disappointed in her lack of a witty comeback and sensed Shikamaru was too.

"Ino I saw your body." She saw the corners of his mouth curl up ever so slightly.

"Yea?" She arched an eyebrow, daring him to make an easy joke.

"You take so much time primping yourself I'm surprised you just left it out in the open like that, it's unlike you."

"It was just out in the _open_ Shikamaru. I had a tent and this is private property." This time she purposefully ripped out a clump of grass and threw it at the know-it-all's face, giggling as he braced for impact and spat some loose blades out of his mouth.

"Yea of the Nara family." Shikamaru rolled over on his side to look at her. She remembered this look he gave her. The only other time she saw that look on him was when Asuma..."S'not like your last name is Nara."

"Let's be honest, it might as well be." Shikamaru's expression changed again to something she'd never seen before, at least not directed toward her. New territory with Shikamaru… it made her confused. "And you! What, did you memorize the flight patterns of all the birds in Konoha too?"

Shikamaru didn't need to say anything. He resumed his cloud gazing position and the look of loss she recognized on him earlier crept back. She could tell it was eating at him despite how hard he tried to fight it.

This was familiar. This was comfortable. Hopefully it didn't make her a bad person for finding solace in her best friend's pain. People often said the Naras were a tough bunch to crack and it rightfully so made her feel privileged to be able to read Shikamaru. The Shika-Ino-Cho trio always felt natural to the three of them. She wore her closeness to him and Chouji with pride.

Earlier that look on his face sure made her feel something and what that something was she did not want to admit. Ino did not want to risk feeling too much on this day, at least not more than she already had. So, the Yamanaka decided to take a break from attempting conversation with the Nara. It was a shame though for she had somehow against all odds caught the typically sulky Shikamaru in a talkative mood.

Ino had busied herself with picking tiny white wildflowers that grew in patches of the grass that were within reach and poked them into Shikamaru's tidy ponytail. He protested at first but was easily subdued with a promise to take them all out before any other guests arrived. The cloud-gazer also seemed to enjoy the feeling of her fingers poking around in his hair. Ino imagined it would feel like a scalp massage.

"I think I see Chouji over there," Ino said after a good deal of time passed. She waved at him and smiled, it was going to be a long day but at least she had her old team with her.

To everyone's delight, Chouji had brought barbeque chips. Usually Ino stayed away from them but she had been eating worms and berries in animal bodies and flavorless rations in her own for the past few days. She welcomed the flavor.

It did not take long for Chouji to lay down in solidarity with Shikamaru much to Ino's chagrin. This prompted Ino to comment on their attire being ruined by the dirt. Chouji coaxed her to lay down with them while she insisted she had more dignity than to lay down in the grass and dirt in her nice black dress. Shikamaru shot back with a comment about how she hadn't showered in a few days and had no right to judge.

Out of excuses she laid down next to Chouji, refusing to admit that it felt good to do so.

"So wait you actually used your mind transfer jutsu on birds?" Chouji asked, impressed.

"It's too bad I didn't run into any wild boars, or that I wasn't named after a bird or something."

"You're feeling… poetic." Shikamaru cut in.

Before Ino could tell him to shut up Chouji cut in, "wait so did you eat worms? I can't imagine you doing any of that stuff like _willingly._ Ino how much money would I need to give you if you were to eat a worm as a human?" Shikamaru and Chouji both broke into laughter.

As the boys continued to laugh and tease Ino about her activities from the past few days, Ino was surprised at how much Shikamaru smiled. She kept catching herself looking over to him and catching him looking over to her. Both knowing, watching.

"I'm so happy you're here Chouji." Ino said after a lull in the teasing, squeezing his forearm. Again she caught Shikamaru's eye.

"I figured you two might be out here. It's kind of neat having the three of us out here it's almost like when we were kids."

"And genin I guess." Ino remarked. "You know just without…"

"Asuma." Shikamaru and Chouji said in union.

Ino looked away from Shikamaru, but she could feel his persistent stare. She was glad he was also watching her; it made her feel less like a creep.

"It feels like we've all lost three fathers." Chouji said softly. Ino could barely hear him.

Silence fell over the team once again. They looked up at the sky together. For Ino, she felt so small to look up to the sky rather than down from it. Flying was so nice; it made her feel invincible, like a god. She glanced over at Shikamaru again and caught him mesmerized by the sky. He was not affected and intimidated by the sky like she was. _I wish I could stare into the infinite and not be phased. Of course he doesn't feel insecure; he's always been looking up. I might temporarily have a view from the heavens but he's always had a mind like a god._

"Do you guys want to just continue playing eye tag? I can leave and give you some time to talk you know."

"Oh no, it's fine! We talked a bit earlier." Ino responded. Shikamaru grunted in agreement.

"No but- how do I say this…"

"Just say it." Shikamaru insisted.

"They were your actual fathers you know? Our families are close but they were _your_ fathers. " Chouji said hesitantly.

"I've already done my regretting and crying." Ino responded with finality. "Yea it sucks. I wish I could explain to you how it is I feel but 'it sucks' just does the trick. I don't know what I could say that isn't news. I'm in pain and unsure and at this point I'm ready to say goodbye and move on." Ino could feel Shikamaru staring and met his gaze head on. "As long as Shikamaru is okay, I'm going to be okay."

"Ditto."


	2. Training Grounds

Ino could not decide whether it was the mind clearing properties of her training that drew her back into shinobi training, or the daunting fact that she was in one way or another expected to take up her father's post as one of the top spies and information gathering-nin.

It was no secret her taijustsu grown rusty. She was never a powerhouse so there was no point in kidding herself there, and besides, her clan Justus were not useful in combat.

While she was still a ninja and could certainly hold her own in battle, there was nothing strategic about putting her directly out on the field with a heavy hitter. So, on one hand she had the luxury of not being at the front lines, on the other hand her talents had been too useful elsewhere that her combat skills degraded to the point of personal shame for the Yamanaka given that she was always personally driven for perfection.

In her early days in the academy she was bested only by the last Uchiha in grades and combat skills. While she was always her friends' best cheerleader, it pained her to see how far she fell because the blonde was competitive by nature. Ino's darkest moments were when Sakura was taken on as Tsunade's apprentice and Shikamaru steadily climbed the ranks of Konoha's leadership with litter effort. It was harrowing to be left behind. It was Chouji that she confided in one day that she considered quitting the life of the shinobi since she could not be the best. Chouji was more upset than she had anticipated and confessed it was herself that kept him motivated to strive to be a great ninja when he considered quitting the life as well.

At the same time it was Shikamaru that gave her purpose, he started having pull in the hokage's office and her assignments started becoming more geared toward her abilities. Ino eventually came to accept that her specialty was infiltration and information gathering. Her medic-nin apprenticeship made her even more valuable and her extensive research on the medical and lethal uses of plants gave her even more confidence in herself once she learned to connect the skills together.

Unlike a lot of early genin teams, the Shika-Ino-Cho team went on a couple missions regularly, never needing a special request. Sure it helped that Shikamaru was the right-hand man of Tsunade and now Kakashi, but they really were just a dream team for espionage. Shikamaru was a flawless mastermind, she was the perfect spy, and Chouji was the muscle and their patient enforcer.

That being said, she had inexcusably let her training slip too much.

Since Asuma died she had been went on fewer and fewer missions until she practically only went on assignments with her team ten genin group. She no longer felt comfortable going on missions that did not consist of a team of herself, Shikamaru, and Chouj. A part of her was scared of going to into the field, what if she lost someone important to her while she survived like a coward _?_

Instead of regular missions, Ino had begun to split her time between hospital shifts and her flower shop where in her spare time she did a lot of research of the applications of flowers. The pay was good and the work was good.

Inoichi's death was a wakeup call, people were going to die regardless of her action or inaction. And Ino, well, she always was a fan of doing everything in her power to make things right. Failures came with life, and when she was younger it was harder to stomach.

With her father's legacy, not just her own career on the line, she gathered the motivation to move forward. The Yamanaka bloodline would not go waste.

So, this morning, like every morning following the burial, Ino had gotten up at the crack of dawn to go to the public training grounds. She, Chouji, Shikamaru, and Asuma had many a training practice here.

A hollowness fell over and intensified the longer she lingered in the locker room, but it was oddly calming and in an odd way it felt pleasant. Ino chalked it up to nostalgia.

She hummed a little tune as she got changed in the public locker room which was just a generic song with a one hit wonder singer that had been popular in her early genin days. She honestly had not thought about the song since its heyday but the sight, sounds, and even smells of the training grounds brought back a flood of memories.

Ino pulled her hair back into her signature slick ponytail did a little spin in the mirror. The blonde walked right up to the full length mirror and admired herself while practicing her best bitch face. The pull of the ponytail gave her face a little bit of a lift, sharpening her facial features. She looked good, as fierce as ever. Then Yamanaka examined her body. Sure it was a little soft looking and a bit weaker than it could have been but she had toned up considerably since she started coming to the training grounds again.

She enjoyed the strength that returned to her body but had to be careful. As much as she hated playing the pretty innocent frail girl, it was a useful role.

Ino turned the corner to exit the locker room when she crashed into something.

A combination of general rustiness and the early morning slump left Ino disoriented but she managed to get her body into a position to catch herself on the ground. At the very last second an unknown hand reached down and grabbed her before she hit the floor.

The something she had walked into had apparently been some _one_.

"Oh shit you moved so fast I couldn't move out of the way in time!" Ino looked the brunette in the face and at first could not place her. It was not until she noticed her unique hairstyle consisting of two buns before she could place the face and voice.

"Ah sorry, I'm getting back into taijutsu amongst other stuff, I guess I should add sensory skills to my list." Ino's savior steadied her back on her feet before the embarrassed kunoichi got a good look at this fellow early morning riser. Ino had trouble placing where she had seen the girl with the twin buns before when it hit her: she was the teammate of Rock Lee and Neji Hyuuga.

Ah Neji Hyuuga, she had heard that he had been buried in the Hyuuga estate sometime before her father and Shikaku Nara were laid to rest.

Ino felt a little guilty for not knowing very much about the girl she crashed into, she was always just kind of there, just the teensiest bit generic. Se regretted never making a point of trying to get to know this older girl. She never really knew any of them on the Might guy team given that they did not cross paths often, save that one encounter she had with the Hyuuga during the chunin exams.

"Oh God, my bad… I just wanted to refill my water bottle." The girl set down an absurdly large summoning scroll that apparently was on the girl's back down on the ground. Then Ino remembered: Tenten was it? She was the weapons master of their generation. Ino could not recall very much about the girl other than her defeat in the chunin exams against Shikamaru's friend Temari.

"Ah no worries Tenten! Thanks for the save honestly," Ino smiled back politely and added, "I can watch your stuff." Tenten rolled her stiff shoulders and quietly bowed her head in thanks

Ino leaned against the exit. "So you train in the morning too?"

"Yea, It's been awhile but I've been coming here lately." Tenten's voice trailed off a bit as she turned the corner to get to the water fountain.

"Me too actually, I've been coming here every morning for a little bit." Ino raised her voice for clarity's sake. "I think this is going to be my new routine, but I could also decide one day that I like sleeping in... Who knows, it's not really set in stone right now"

"God, It's so nice in the morning. Most new genin teams and their senseis' aren't too psyched for training at dawn you know?" Tenten paused and Ino heard water running. "But uuuuuhhhh, so, I don't know if you've ever met Might Guy, but he just has so much energy all the time that I just kind of adjusted to his insane schedule." Tenten groaned, "His energy is so infections that he made a monster of me, I'm a _morning_ person now."

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Ino said in jest, " I also had early morning practice in the good old genin days but uhh Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi-"

"Team ten right?"

"Right, that's us!" Ino said with pride, "anyways Asuma always scheduled early morning trainings but we stopped after a bit. Shikamaru and Chouji were always late. That wasn't even the worst part, cause like for me a set time is a set time; you won't see me be late."

"Uhh huh?"

"Weeeeeeell, unless I'm making a point but that doesn't apply to this situation. But yea, the worst part was Asuma started coming later and later knowing that he could get away with it and still scold the boys." Ino sighed, "But _I_ continued to show up every day at the proper time and I would just sit there by myself."

"Are you serious?" Tenten asked incredulously, turning the corner and reappearing to claim her scroll. "What did you do?"

"I don't know I would read a magazine or something, I made a point of being there on time even if Asuma ran late. It kind of became our thing, and I promised not to tell the boys that Asuma was late. Chouji was likely to give a little sass if he knew, and Shikamaru would use that as leverage for something"

Tenten outstretched a bent arm in Ino's direction

"Shall we?" Ino look confused so Tenten elaborated, "train together that is. It'll probably be more useful to have a combat partner."

Ino smiled and walked out arm in arm with Tenten and they proceeded to pick a nice secluded spot.

Sparing with Shikamaru taught her how to out think an opponent, Chouji taught her how to be calm in the face of fast and powerful projectiles, and fighting matches with Sakura taught her how to take a hit. Not only did she know them too well, chances were out in the field she would not be stuck fighting heavy fighters such as themselves.

It was really nice to spar with someone that wasn't Shikamaru, Chouji, or Sakura.

Tenten was literally a woman army. Ino experienced for the first time why Tenten was considered the weapons master of her generation. Tenten had switched off between a staff, a broadsword, and two other types of blades she didn't even know the name of during their practice.

Ino was never one for a weapon but even she could tell Tenten wielded them with a grace and elegance that was unrivaled.

Tenten was also a great multitasker, not only did she fight Ino with a weapon, she twirled through the air and summoned what seemed like a never ending storm of kunai. Ino had to come up with tactics and maneuvers to avoid the rain of kunai while trying to disarm the weapons master. It was the most fun Ino had had in a long time.

After a few attempts at familiarizing each other's limits, they began to make a game of the training. If Ino could disarm Tenten in five minutes or less she won, but if Tenten could pin Ino with a kunai/shuriken flurry or her weapon she won. Tenten was a little reluctant to agree to the game and said the odds were stacked in her own favor, but the ever hard on herself Ino insisted.

Before they realized it, it was past noon.

Ino was surprised at how fast the time had gone by. She could not believe how natural it felt to be around Tenten. They would crack jokes in training and as they were stretching each other out Ino gathered a moment of courage and finally brought up the elephant in the room.

"I'm really sorry about Neji, Tenten. I can't imagine how hard it must have been to lose a teammate."

"I have a feeling that you can, if it's anything like losing a father," Tenten's voice sounded foreign. Was she really the person Ino had been training with all morning?

Ino was surprised as she went from absentmindedly twiddling with the end of her ponytail to numbness. She inwardly cursed herself for being caught off-guard. Sure the burial gave her some closure but the pain of the loss seemed to creep up on her at random inconvenient times.

"Wait um, sorry, if that was uhh, awkward. I'm also sorry for your-" Tenten started to slowly back away a little.

"Oh wait no, Tenten, no its-" Ino laid a hand on the kunoichi's shoulder. Tenten whipped her head back and Ino caught her gaze for a mere moment, but it was all the blonde needed to see her own pain in the girl's brown eyes.

"I've been coming here to train and make my dad proud but it's also been to clear my head. I've said goodbye to my dad but I'm trying so hard try to come to peace with his death," Ino trailed off for a second, she could see Tenten's interest peak, "but somehow while I was here I forgot that he was… dead… before you brought him back up. Which I guess is kind of weird you know? How could I forget the reason why I was here?"

"I'm here for the same reason." Tenten smiled, "Me and Lee, we've known Neji a long time so we are free to train in the Hyuuga's dojos, and man are they nice but that's not the point." She took a deep breath, "the point is that the last time I saw my best friend he was being buried in the Hyuuga property and I can't go anywhere near their estate without feeling like I might breakdown."

"Yea that about sums up my situation too." Ino was shocked, she couldn't believe how similar they were.

Here their newfound friendship was being tested. They were either going to both be fine or get teary eyed. Together they sound strength and the two managed to move on without a pity party for two, and they began relaying stories about the ones they've lost.

As Ino listened to Tenten relay her experiences with the Hyuuga household, she grew increasingly dumbfounded at what she had missed over the last few years. The Hyuugas were always a major player in defense and politics but she never really knew Hinata or Neji very well.

When Tenten began to relay the juicier bits of a gala she attended at the Hyuuga's residence, Ino became aware of what a bubble she had been living in. Despite everyone including herself claiming she was the social butterfly of the group, so much of her information and socialization came from the same three people through her life with a rotating boyfriend of two here or there.

All her friends seemed so much more connected to the village than she was. Sakura was part of a different team and a former apprentice of Tsunade. Chouji was a huggable, likable, people person and came back best buds with his mission group every time he left. He was great at listening and cheering someone up. Shikamaru had more friends than he cared to admit working for the hokage's office day in and day out. He seemed to have a growing fan base with the younger generation of genins and chunins due to the story of his chunin promotion way back in the day.

Socializing here with Tenten was new but it was good.

"Yea and I have no clue how we got so off topic, BUT what I was saying was my life has been so weird lately. Like, I haven't even talked to Sakura all that much lately; I think the person I talk to the most is actually… Shikamaru?" Ino paused, she felt like she had more to say but that pretty much summed up everything pretty well.

"You kind look like you don't believe yourself."

"No, it's true it's just I never thought I'd say those words in that order." Ino made a smacking noise with her mouth, "it just feels weird." She sat down and to stretch out. She began by straightening her legs out as she touched her hands to her toes

"What do you like him?" Tenten casually asked, leaning over to stretch a hamstring.

Ino felt the world stop.

First she was shocked. _Me? And Shikamaru? As if_.

They were just friends! She was friends with Chouji, who was friends with Shikamaru, who was friends with herself.

 _This is ridiculous, what would make her even ask that question?_

Ino searched for some rhyme or reason. She was no stranger for being mistaken for the girlfriend of one of the boys. Sure she was close to Shikamaru but that was because they were best friends and often teammates.

She was constantly teased as a child by her parents and other kids that her only friends were boys or that she had a boyfriend. This angered her to no end, for one boys are disgusting, but more importantly she did not understand why boys and girls couldn't just be friends. The more they teased, the more she insisted. This cycle had played out throughout her life.

Admittedly when she was little she played a game with herself when she would play in the forest with Chouji and Shikamaru. She would switch off one every few weeks or so which one of the boys she had a crush on, and every time the objective of the time was nice to her, she would feel happy. She remembered stopping this game with herself because she found it tiring remembering which boy it was she would have a crush on.

There was also the game she played with Shikamaru that started when she used to try to get him to talk while cloud gazing. She had to tell him something he found useful or interesting and he would have to tell her something that he liked about someone she would name.

There was also the game where she would tease Shikamaru's aspirations of an average civilian girl to marry by adding unusual quirks to a hypothetical average civilian girl to see if it would warrant her updateable in his eyes.

There was also the game of she would tell him a scenario of a perfect foolproof date while he had to come up with one thing that would ruin the whole thing.

Ino was taken aback by the number of games they played

Then she was angry.

Sure people had teased her for being friends with boys all her life, but no one had ever asked her if she liked Shikamaru before. Tenten should have known better than to ask that question. She and Shikamaru had been friends for so long, so there was no point in asking a question that would make their relationship awkward and ruin their friendship. Of course she didn't like Shikamaru in that way, they had been friends for so long that if something were to happen between them it would have happened by now. Sure, she was incredibly close to Shikamaru, but she was equally close to Chouji.

She had been teased to no end about her relationship with the boys, but no one had ever asked her how she felt about Shikamaru. It was the forbidden question from her family, the Naras, the Akimichis, from Chouji, Sakura, Shikamaru, and herself especially. Tenten had absolutely no right to waltz into her life and ask that which was not meant to be asked.

"Of course not, we've been friends for so long it would be weird," Ino blurted out without skipping a beat. That second between the last word Tenten spoke and the first word of her response felt like an eternity. Ino was just thankful her face was resting above her knees as she tried to get a deep stretch.

"Hey, do you want me to push on your back? You'll get a deeper stretch."

"Yea, that would be great."

"Oh my god, wait. No, do you remember that time during the chunin exams… Oh god I get second hand embarrassment just thinking about it."

"Oh no," Ino cut in involuntarily, "I haven't thought about the chunin exams in forever." She cringed.

"I don't even remember what was going on but you tried to seduce Neiji?" Tenten's face scrunched up and an invisible chill seemed to run through her body. "That was the FIRST time I saw you I was blown away that in what felt like a life or death situation you were, uhh, let's just say so bold and confident. " Tenten could barely get her sentence out over Ino's stutters and protest.

"You're being too nice," Ino said, hands clasped against her face. Her voice was muffled but she was still very loud, and then began to giggle "Oh my god I was such an overconfident little shit. I thought I was hot stuff, openly thirsting after Sasuke and oh man… I am _so sorry_."

"No! Don't be! It makes for a great story today" Tenten said sincerely. The weapons expert then leaned in closer to Ino and whispered loudly, as if pretending to tell Ino a secret, "and honestly we were so young, at that age you had no confidence or you did".

Ino snorted back a laugh and played along, also leaning in and whispering loudly, "no one's confident at that age. It's more like you have no confidence or you pretend that you do. "

"I don't know man you seemed comfortable in your skin," Tenten replied in what could only be described as a whispered yell.

"Tenten why are we whispering?"

"I don't know but we're pretty bad at it. You're loud as hell."

Ino playfully rolled her eyes and jabbed Tenten in her goofball ribs.

"Ouch, that hurts you know," said Tenten dramatically while she overreacted to the nonexistent pain.

"Well, I am a medic nin, and my recommendation is that you should do more early morning training here with me so that I have a partner."

"Ooooooooh, partner? Why you haven't even introduced me to your mother yet, what will people say?" Ino allowed herself to feel amused and was surprised at the legitimate laughter that escaped her lips. Tenten's positive attitude and joking manner was so infectious that her comment almost failed to remind Ino that she had but one living parent left. Almost.

"Same time and place tomorrow?"

"Same time and place tomorrow!"

Tenten was such a cute and goofy soul. Before she did understand how anyone could keep up with the famous Rock Lee on their team, but after spending the morning training with Tenten, she started to see how the two of them could get along.

Ino sighed as she headed home from the training grounds. She really needed a shower, no a bath and a nap.


	3. Reheated Meals

By the time Ino got back to her apartment, it was almost three pm and she was starving.

It was not until she sat down with her reheated homemade udon broth and noodles that she noticed the potted plants. Cute little succulent Jade plants and beautifully variegated heartleaf philodendron vines sat on her kitchen counter.

They were definitely not there in the morning. On the wall above one of the foreign plants, there was a post it note. Ino looked down longingly at her soup and noodles on the table before she groaned heavily and tore herself away to retrieve the note.

Although it was an entire three or four steps to the counter from her table, her lower body was screaming in pain the entire trek. She leaned against her elbows on the counter to alleviate some of the weight off her feet and read the note which would have been illegible had Ino not been reading Chouji's handwriting her entire life. It seemed that things were getting pretty serious with Chouji's current girlfriend so she left some plants at his place this morning while she went home to Kumogakure. It was just Chouji's luck that he was assigned a mission that required him to be gone for at least a week.

Ino examined the plants, they were in good shape. Chouji's current girlfriend, whose name slipped Ino's mind, clearly took good care of them. The botanist could not help herself and gave the succulent leaves of the jade plant a squeeze. Everything seemed in order.

This new girlfriend of the Akimichi's certainly had Ino's stamp of approval.

As Ino made her way back to her udon. She sighed happily and kicked her feet up on the chair across from her.

Ino soon he realized she was humming that same generic popular song she recalled earlier that morning. Something was changing within village just as something was changing within Ino. She had a general idea of what it was she was feeling. And as for the village, everyone had been on alert due to political and security circumstances for as long as she could remember. The atmosphere in the village, this _happiness,_ was foreign. For lack of a better word she would call it 'peace'. For all Ino knew this realy was what peace felt like. Her generation had been born into a period of great tension and they grew up with a Jinchuriki; no one within a reasonable age of her would know how to describe peacetime.

Ino did not know how to respond to the lightness that grew within her knowing what sacrifices had been made in order to achieve it.

Ino felt her stomach rumble. This she knew how to respond to.

Just as she was preparing to take a bite, the famished kunoichi was rudely interrupted by her front door swinging open.

Ino saw the familiar black sleeve and green vest of Konoha's uniform before she saw the spiky black ponytail and default scowl of the one and only Nara Shikamaru.

He gave a nod in her direction. For a second she doubts melted away.

"There's udon on the stove." She smiled, "take some."

Ino was never one to prefer solitude over company. His intrusions were always welcome. Even if her intrusions were not welcome to him, he seemed to tolerate her presence even if he otherwise complained. Still once in a while he would approach on his own without any coercion and it was nice when he did.

Wordlessly Shikamaru grabbed a bowl from her cupboard and started making himself a bowl with the broth and noodles still on her stove top.

He was moved at an alarming rate toward her dining table, at what was quite possibly a record speed for the lazy ninja.

Without warning, Shikamaru pulled out chair Ino rested her feet on.

She was mid-bite when her feet touched the ground with a surprising amount of force and she nearly chocked on a piece of noodle.

"What the FUCK Shikamaru?" Ino yelped between coughs.

"Starving." Shikamaru slurped the noodles with such a fury that Ino was convinced that she had played one too many mind tricks on her companions and somehow left Chouji's mind in Shikamaru's body.

Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru had always had an informal arrangement. The lazy Nara never learned to cook but he was welcome to crash her or Chouji's place for meals in exchange for favors here or there. A couple of bucks to help with grocery money was also appreciated. It was cheaper than going out to eat for every meal, and she and Chouji were very good cooks. The pair of them were plenty practiced as they grew accustomed to preparing gratuitous amounts of food for their family parties.

The Yamanaka heiress was the only one that had moved out her family's property and it was a struggle at first to learn how to portion her food more appropriately. Chouji rarely needed help finishing his leftovers, but Ino often had trouble finishing her meals.

Ino was all the same surprised to see him; Shikamaru hadn't dropped by for food in a while. There was some kind of joint Konoha-Suna repairs project going on that somehow had something to do with hosting joint genin exams. Ino did not totally trust her information on the topic as it was news that she heard from Sakura that she heard from someone who heard it from a co-worker who had her it from their friend that heard it in a meeting.

"You haven't eaten yet?" Ino said, confused.

Shikamaru gave a nearly primal sounding grunt. Ino grew mildly annoyed.

"Why didn't you just bring lunch with you to work?"

"Can't make lunch."

"You're a grown ass man make your own damn lunch." Ino rolled her eyes.

"But it's easier to just eat here."

"I live out of the way from your pa- your mom's house that can't possibly be true."

"Tsk, troublesome."

There was a lull as Ino ate her noodles as peacefully as she could while worrying about Shikamaru's health. It was not entirely unlike him to accidentally skip meals out due to his workload or laziness.

"Have you been eating well lately? Taking care of yourself?" Shikamaru grunted and continued to slurp his noodles loudly.

"I saw you yesterday you know." Shikamaru sassed between bites of noodles. Ino decided to save her comment about his manners in favor of eating her udon, really enjoying the bouncy texture of the noodles and the distinct taste of her broth.

Ino was never one to 'pick' her battles. she usually opted to charge in indiscriminately screaming when it came to Shikamaru but today she was tired and needed to save her energy for later for cleaning and bandaging up her legs. Tenten had done a number on her legs with the showers of kunai and shuriken she summoned and manipulated.

She would have to precisely and finely distribute her chakra onto the wounds to aid in the healing process to minimize scarring. Most medic-kunoichi would find the process tiring and have little reward considering their field of work, but she needed it done. Ino could not deny that her near obsessive dedication to aesthetic was a factor for why she wanted to minimize a bit of her motivation was vanity, Ino's biggest concern was the Konoha intelligence Agency. If she wanted any chance of a job in espionage or with her father's old department, she needed to be picturesque. Beautiful charismatic civilians always made the best disguise for squeezing information out of scumbags.

Ino suddenly remembered how much chakra she had exerted during training. The evening would leave her exhausted considering how much concentration the process required. She grew tired thinking about it.

Shikamaru suddenly picked up his bowl and drank the broth ravenously. Ino looked down at her own bowl and found she was roughly halfway done.

"Are you _that_ hungry? Why didn't you just order something from somewhere?"

"Ordering is troublesome." Shikamaru made his way over to the stove for a second helping. "You weren't here earlier so I left."

"How can you of all people possibly afford to drop by my place so often today? Kakashi let you off your leash?"

Shikamaru set his bowl down with such force that the table wobbled.

"Hey, watch it!" She warned. Sure it was a crap table but he was being way too rough.

Shikamaru grunted between slurps.

Silences with Shikamaru were not unusual. An observer might chalk it up to either aggression or awkwardness from both parties but this is how they always were. Shikamaru just preferred the listening over commenting and enjoyed observing over doing. Ino was fine with that.

On the other hand, when Ino was alone she filled the silences the best she could, she would read fashion magazines, listen to music, chat with someone on the phone, train, diet, anything to fill the silence, and anything that could make her perfect. When she was left with no distractions, that's when the bad thoughts crept in. She wasn't good enough, thin enough, beautiful enough, smart enough, strong enough or that it was her fault personally Asuma died, or her father, or Shikaku. The worst of it came when she felt alone in a crowd.

Oddly enough it was the silences with Shikamaru that put her to ease. If something was really wrong he would let her have it and though he was prone to being indelicate she preferred having the truth than walking around like a blind idiot.

Whenever he was around she could only think about him and how proud she was of him. Though his laziness was irritating, his presence was always therapeutic. His easy going nature was as soothing, it shut her brain up.

"Did you pawn off your paperwork on some poor soul? Again?" Ino glanced at her old friend between bites and began to think about what it would like to live with Shikamaru. It would not be to foreign, they'd grown up together and were always around each other. Their physical and emotional proximity had always been rather close.

Shikamaru grunted between slurps. The only thing truly infuriating was the Nara's lack of willingness to be the best version of himself he could be. She always saw the potential in him and would always cheer him on, even if it made her a nag.

"You bum." She sighed and smiled.

Tenten's words from earlier rung in her ears. Ino thought their relationship was fine as is, but maybe…. No. They were fine. Never before had she questioned their roles or closeness, this was just a weird one off day. They were friends and nothing more. Their relationship was perfect and there was no need to make a big deal out of it. There was no point in exploring or wondering about the uncharted waters.

Besides she was probably just projecting her insecurities about the failures of her love life onto Shikamaru. It could never be him, but she had to admit, she could really see herself with someone like him.

Ino grew irritated. _You know what?_ Of course she and Shikamaru spent a lot of time together and talked to each other and understood each other and took care of one another. She did the same for Chouji and Sakura. She wouldn't mind dating someone like Sakura or Chouji either, but Ino still couldn't shake the anxious feeling that overcame her.

Shikamaru grunted between slurps. Ino refused to give up on having a proper conversation.

"Did the representatives come from Suna?" Ino chewed and thought. It _had_ been a long time since she went on a date. She would like to be in a serious relationship but at the same time she was currently was emotionally unavailable to deal someone new. She just wished she could skip the awkward getting-to-know-you-and-are-we-compatible part of dating to the understanding, emotionally close, symbiotic part of a serious relationship.

Shikamaru said nothing.

"Did you get out early by skimping on the tour of the repairs to the village?" She asked.

Shikamaru nodded ever so slightly. At least he was kind of responding.

"Hmmm, I wish I could have been there then. I know that the Konoha Intelligence Division's offices have seen better days but I'm not sure if they're still operating out of a makeshift space or if they have an actual office now." Ino sipped her soup thoughtfully. "I'm not ready yet but I'm going to march in there and ask for a job, just you wait." She was getting nervous and riled up just thinking about it. Yamanakas naturally gravitated toward that department but the thought of filling her father's shoes was daunting to say the least.

"How fitting." _Ah ha!_ He was engaging. Ino had won. And now that she had had little bit of food, she had enough energy to bicker with her lazy ass friend.

"What is?" Ino glared, her eyes daring him to call her a 'troublesome woman'.

"That you'd march up to Ibiki and demand a job."

"What?" Ino huffed. "He doesn't scare me! He was friends with my dad, he's like an uncle."

"It's fitting for you to work there," he elaborated. Ino was surprised at the lack of an insult. "Intelligence, they're hurting without your old man."

"So… the Suna reps, was Temari there? I haven't seen her in a while, not since that one time she visited and she hung out with the three of us. I should talk to her more; sometimes I forget she's the sister of the Kazekage." Shikamaru gave no indication he even heard her.

Ino noticed Shikamaru paused briefly, he seemed irritated all of a sudden and she wondered what set him off. Ino herself was just about done with her meal. She rested her chin on her left hand. Her pony tail swished gracefully over her shoulder as she examined her friend.

Their eyes met shortly, Ino blinked and Shikamaru went right back to eating so she continued to watch him in silence. She could be imagining it but it felt like something lingered in the air. It bothered her.

"What?" She asked.

Shikamaru looked confused.

"I don't know, you looked super pissed just now."

"Oh."

"See! You DO know what I'm talking about!"

"S'nothing."

"Obviously not, since you won't tell me. Was it Temari?"

"Tour was troublesome, people were troublesome. I just wanted to relax."

"So Temari…?"

"Tsk, troublesome woman." Ino didn't care who he was referring to, she did not appreciate his tone.

"You better watch your mouth."

"No not you, but also yes." Shikamaru yawned as if the conversation was tiring him out. "Nosy."

"Whatever, did you have a fight with your girlfriend?" Ino also began to grow irritated. "Don't take it out on her tough guy."

"She's not my girlfriend, dating is too much work." Shikamaru ran his hand through his ponytail.

"I mean you always say that but have you even tried?"

"Why does it matter if I have? Forcing someone to get to know someone else for the sake of a romantic relationship that may or may not work out and is more likely going to end in emotional distress on both parties sounds like more work that it's worth."

"Well how else are you going to find that average wife to give you average kids that can run around while you retire at an average age?"

"I'm sure my mom will set me up." Ino felt her anger evaporate.

Ino burst out laughing. Shikamaru watched her inquisitively.

"Oh you precious little boy, you do realize she'll probably try to set you up with me?" She explained.

"… the thought crossed my mind." He said nervously.

"What happens if I'm still alive then?"

"You'll be alive." He insisted solemnly. His gaze grew too intense too suddenly. Ino realized her mistake.

"I.. I was joking but that wasn't the best choice of words. I know how you feel, sorry."

Shikamaru remained quiet.

"Eh I wouldn't mind humoring her," he finally replied. Ino breathed a sigh of relief. "We could go to dinner and I'd end up paying like every time we have a meal."

"Hey we could invite Chouji in secret and then there wouldn't be anything that different compared to the life we live now." Ino laughed.

Shikamaru looked pained but Ino knew he was just struggling to hide a smile.

"It'll be a date then. I'm on board! And remember, you're saying it willingly here and now that you WILL pay!" She smiled wholeheartedly. Shikamaru cracked and smiled modestly.

Ino stared at the remaining broth in her bowl before tilting her head back to drink the rest of it. When she put her bowl down she saw that Shikamaru had been staring at her yet again.

After taking a satisfying breath, Ino grabbed her bowl and reached for Shikamaru's as well when he swatted her hand away.

Arching an eyebrow, she met his gaze.

"Go shower, Ill clean up." He insisted.

"Are you trying to tell me I smell?"

"Tsk, I'm not saying anything, I'm being nice."

"I was just kidding," Ino said in a singsong voice. Shikamaru watched as her animated ponytail fluttered trailed after her as she disappeared behind a corner.

"Troublesome," he called to her. She was already gone.

Involuntarily, Shikamaru ran his hand over his hair before proceeding to clean as promised.


End file.
